Game machine, game system, and a storage medium storing a computer program of game machine

ABSTRACT

A game machine controls an action of an operation character set to be operated by a player based on an operation of the player with respect to the operation character, controls an action of a control character to act in association with the operation character so as to select from a plurality of predetermined actions by referring to an instruction from the player to the control character, accumulates action information of respective actions of the operation character individually and accumulates the instruction from the player with respect to an action of the control character as instruction information. The game machine determines an instruction with reference to the instruction information, selects an action corresponding to the instruction from the plurality of actions and controls an action of the control character based on the action information corresponding to the selected action in the case that there is no instruction from the player.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to determination of an action of acomputerized character, and relates to a game machine and the like thatcan develop the character so that an action of the character isdetermined and controlled according to an intention of a player.

BACKGROUND ART

As a game that can develop a character, there has been known a baseballgame that can develop a team to be strong by enhancing the ability of aplayer character (see, for example, Patent Literature 1), or adeveloping game that grows a character by taking care of a virtual lifecharacter (see, for example, Patent Literature 2).

-   Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2010-162177 and Patent Literature 2:    JP-A-2007-202778.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

When a game is played by making a plurality of characters appear in agame field, there is a case where a computerized character acting inassociation with a character operated by a player is made to appear inthe game. Such a computerized control character is set to perform acomputer-controlled action to assist a character operated by a player,or to take an action according to an instruction of a player. However,the player may be dissatisfied because the control character originallyset to assist the character performs an action that is not intended bythe player. Meanwhile, there is no game that can develop a controlcharacter so that an action of the control character is determinedaccording to an intention of a player on a field.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a game machine, a gamesystem and a computer program of the game machine, capable of developinga character so that the character acts in association with a characteroperated by a player

Solution to Problem

The game machine of the present invention is a game machine comprising:an operation character action control device which controls an action ofan operation character set to be operated by a player based on anoperation of the player with respect to the operation character; acontrol character action control device which controls an action of acontrol character to act in association with the operation character soas to select from a plurality of predetermined actions by referring toan instruction from the player to the control character; an actioninformation accumulating device which accumulates action information ofrespective actions of the operation character individually; and aninstruction information accumulating device which accumulates theinstruction from the player with respect to an action of the controlcharacter as instruction information; wherein the control characteraction control device determines an instruction with reference to theaccumulated instruction information, selects an action corresponding tothe instruction from the plurality of actions and controls an action ofthe control character based on the action information corresponding tothe selected action in the case that there is no instruction from theplayer with respect to the control character.

According to the game machine of the present invention, the controlcharacter acts in a controlled state to select an action among aplurality of predetermined options while receiving an instruction fromthe player. Although a detailed action cannot be selected by anoperation of the player, a course of action of the control character isdetermined by issuing an instruction to the control character. Theinstruction issued to the control character by the player is accumulatedas instruction information. On the other hand, an action of theoperation character is controlled based on an operation of the player,and the action is accumulated as action information. That is, accordingto the play of a game, a desired action of the control character isaccumulated as an instruction in the instruction information, and anoperational habit of the player is accumulated in the action informationthrough an action of the operation character. When there is noinstruction from the player, an action of the control character isdetermined with reference to the instruction information, and an actualaction of the control character is determined with reference to theaction information. Therefore, the operational habit of the player isreflected on the action of the control character, and the controlcharacter appears to grow by viewing the action of the operationcharacter. Since an action frequently instructed by the player isperformed even when there is no instruction, the control character canbe developed and grown. Therefore, the game can be diversified, and thesatisfaction of the player can be increased.

As one aspect of the game machine of the present invention, furthercomprising an action evaluating device which makes the player evaluatean action of the control character wherein the control character actioncontrol device controls an action of the control character with furtherreference to the evaluation result of the action evaluating device.According to this, an action of the control character is evaluated bythe player, and an action of the control character is controlled withreference to the evaluation result. Therefore, the control character canperform an action evaluated by the player, and the player can feel as ifthe player himself grows the control character.

In the aspect of providing the action evaluating device, wherein thecontrol character action control device controls an action of thecontrol character so that the high-evaluated action is apt to beselected according to an evaluated ratio of the evaluation result.According to this, since the high-evaluated action is taken by thecontrol character, the operational preference of the player can bereflected and the achievement of the educational result can be obtained.

In the aspect of providing the action evaluating device, wherein Theaction evaluating device allow the player to modify an action of thecontrol character as the evaluation of an action of the controlcharacter, and the control character action control device controls anaction of the control character so as to take a modified action.According to this, when the control character performs an action that isnot intended by the player, an action of the control character can bemodified and thus an action desired by the player can be promoted. Sincethe modified action is accumulated and reflected on an action of thecontrol character, the player can be satisfied with the developingresult while enjoying the process of developing the control character.

As one aspect of the game machine of the present invention, wherein inthe instruction information, each instruction selectable by the playerand the count of selection of the instruction are accumulated inassociation with each other. According to this, since the count ofselection of the instruction by the player is accumulated, theinstruction tendency of the player can be understood. Since the controlcharacter is made to act based on the instruction information, thecontrol character can be made to act according to the desire of theplayer.

As one aspect of the game machine of the present invention, wherein inthe action information, a plurality of action data counted the frequencyof an action of the operation character selected based on an operationof the player is accumulated. According to this, since an action of theoperation character operated by the player is accumulated, an action ofthe player can be reflected on the control character. Accordingly, sincean action of the control character can be made to be similar to anaction of the operation character, the character can be grown accordingto the operational tendency and degree of the player developing thecontrol character.

The game system of the present invention is a game system including aplurality of game machines and a server that are communicativelyconnected to each other through a network, wherein each of the gamemachine comprising: an operation character action control device whichcontrols an action of an operation character set to be operated by aplayer based on an operation of the player with respect to the operationcharacter; a control character action control device which controls anaction of a control character to act in association with the operationcharacter so as to select from a plurality of predetermined actions byreferring to an instruction from the player to the control character; anaction information accumulating device which accumulates actioninformation of respective actions of the operation characterindividually; an instruction information accumulating device whichaccumulates the instruction from the player with respect to an action ofthe control character as instruction information; and a datatransmitting/receiving device which transmits the instructioninformation and the action information to the server in association withthe player and receives the instruction information and the actioninformation of the requesting player; wherein the control characteraction control device determines an instruction with reference to theaccumulated instruction information, selects an action corresponding tothe instruction from the plurality of actions and controls an action ofthe control character based on the action information corresponding tothe selected action in the case that there is no instruction from theplayer with respect to the control character, and the server comprisingan information managing device which manages the instruction informationand the action information received from the game machine in associationwith the player. According to the present invention, even when a game isplayed through any one of the game terminal apparatuses connected toeach other through a network, a game play history including theinstruction information and the action information necessary to controlan action of the control character can be received. Since the servermanages the instruction information and the action information abouteach player, a game can be played through any game terminal apparatus.

The computer program of the present invention is a computer programcauses a computer of a game machine to serve as: an operation characteraction control device which controls an action of an operation characterset to be operated by a player based on an operation of the player withrespect to the operation character; a control character action controldevice which controls an action of a control character to act inassociation with the operation character so as to select from aplurality of predetermined actions by referring to an instruction fromthe player to the control character; an action information accumulatingdevice which accumulates action information of respective actions of theoperation character individually; and an instruction informationaccumulating device which accumulates the instruction from the playerwith respect to an action of the control character as instructioninformation; wherein the control character action control devicedetermines an instruction with reference to the accumulated instructioninformation, selects an action corresponding to the instruction from theplurality of actions and controls an action of the control characterbased on the action information corresponding to the selected action inthe case that there is no instruction from the player with respect tothe control character. By executing the program of the present inventionin a computer of a game system, the game system can serve as the gamesystem of the present invention.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

As described above, according to the present invention, the controlcharacter acts in a controlled state to select an action among aplurality of predetermined options while receiving an instruction fromthe player. Although a detailed action cannot be selected by anoperation of the player, a course of action of the control character isdetermined by issuing an instruction to the control character. Theinstruction issued to the control character by the player is accumulatedas instruction information. On the other hand, an action of theoperation character is controlled based on an operation of the player,and the action is accumulated as action information. That is, accordingto the play of a game, a desired action of the control character isaccumulated as an instruction in the instruction information, and anoperational habit of the player is accumulated in the action informationthrough an action of the operation character. When there is noinstruction from the player, an action of the control character isdetermined with reference to the instruction information, and an actualaction of the control character is determined with reference to theaction information. Therefore, the operational habit of the player isreflected on the action of the control character, and the controlcharacter appears to grow by viewing the action of the operationcharacter. Since an action frequently instructed by the player isperformed even when there is no instruction, the control character canbe developed and grown. Therefore, the game can be diversified, and thesatisfaction of the player can be increased.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of an overall view of a gamesystem including a game machine according to one aspect of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a game system.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a game execution processing routineexecuted by a control unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram describing action information.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a control character instructionprocessing routine executed by the control unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram describing instruction information.

FIG. 7 is a diagram describing evaluation information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of evaluation value data.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a game system including a game machineaccording to one aspect of the present invention. In a game system 1, aplurality of game machines 2 and a center server 3 as a server areconnected through a router 4 to a network 5. The network 5 is preferablythe Internet. Each game machine 2 is configured as a business use gamemachine that collects a fee for a game. An appropriate number of gamemachines 2 are installed in a commercial facility such as a store 6. Alocal server may be installed between the game machine 2 and the router4 such that the game machine 2 is communicatively connected to thecenter server 3 through the local server.

The center server 3 is installed by an operator of the game system 1,and provides various services through the network 5 to the game machine2 or a player that is a user of the game machine 2. As an example, thecenter server 3 provides a service of updating a game program or datathrough the game machine 2, a service of storing play data including aplay history of the player, save data, or the like, on the center server3 by authenticating a player of the game machine 2 by the ID(hereinafter may be referred to as player ID) and password, and thelike. In addition, although one center server 3 is shown in FIG. 1, aplurality of center servers 3 may be installed and processings necessaryfor a network service may be shared between the plurality of centerservers 3. The game machines 2 and the center server 3 are allocatedrespective unique addresses for identification on the network 5, and theaddress is used to specify a communication partner in communicationbetween the game machines 2 or between the game machine 2 and the centerserver 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the above-described game system 1. The gamemachine 2 is provided with a control unit 10. The control unit 10 is acomputer unit that includes a microprocessor and an internal storagedevice such as a ROM recording a program of an operating system and thelike to be executed in the microprocessor, and a RAM providing a workarea for the microprocessor. An external storage device 11, an inputdevice 12 for a game, a monitor (for example, a liquid crystal monitor)13 and a speaker unit 14 are connected to the control unit 10. Theexternal storage device 11 is a storage device that includes anonvolatile storage medium such as a magnetic storage medium, an opticalstorage medium and an EEPROM. The input device 12 includes a pluralityof operating portions (not shown) receiving an operation of the player,and issues a signal corresponding to an operation of the operatingportions to the control unit 10. The input device 12 is, for example, agun-type controller mimicking a weapon such as a handgun. The playeroperating the input device 12 can shoot a target by pulling a triggerwhile pointing a gun muzzle of the controller to the target that isappropriately displayed on a screen of the monitor 13. In addition, asensor or the like detecting a direction of the gun muzzle may beimplemented using the well-known technology.

By reading a game program 15 recorded in the external storage device 11and executing this, the control unit 10 is provided with a gameexecuting portion 16, an information accumulating portion 17, and a datatransmitting/receiving portion 18 as a logical device. The gameexecuting portion 16 executes a game in the game machine 2 according tothe game program 15, and manages the progress thereof. The informationaccumulating portion 17 accumulates action information 31 andinstruction information 32 according to the progress of a game executedin the game machine 2, which will be described below. The datatransmitting/receiving portion 18 performs transmission of accumulatedaction information 31 and instruction information 32 to the centerserver 3, and acquisition request and reception of own actioninformation 31 and instruction information 32 from the center server 3.The center server 3 is provided with a control unit 20 and an externalstorage device 21. The control unit 20 is a computer unit like thecontrol unit 10. By reading a server program 22 recorded in the externalstorage device 21 and executing this, the control unit 20 is providedwith an information managing portion 23 as a logical device. Theinformation managing portion 23 manages the action information 31 andthe instruction information 32 transmitted from each game machine 2 inassociation with the player ID, and transmits the action information 31and the instruction information 32 to the game machine 2 according tothe request from each game machine 2.

An example of the game executed in the game machine 2 may be acommunication fighting game between the game machine 2 and any othergame machine 2 through the network 5. As an example of the communicationfighting game, the game executing unit 13 executes an action-type gamein which a player searches for a virtual game space by operating acharacter set as an operation object and competes in performing apredetermined mission. The player operates the input device 12 being agun-type controller, fights with an opponent character operated by anopponent player being a fighting opponent, and competes with theopponent player for a score. In the game space, a computerized controlcharacter acting in association with an operation character operated bythe player acts around the operation character to assist an action ofthe operation character. As an example, the control character is asubordinate of the operation character in the game space, and the playercan instruct an action to be taken by the control character.

It will be described the game execution processing executed by thecontrol unit 10 with reference to a flow chart of FIG. 3. The gameexecution processing is executed when the player pays a play fee andrequests a game play. First, in step S1, the control unit 10 requeststhe action information 31 and the instruction information 32 of theplayer to the center server 3 and receives these. The action information31 and the instruction information 32 of the player may be received byinquiring about the player ID. The action information 31 and theinstruction information 32 will be described below. Next, in step S2,the control unit 10 starts a game in the game machine 2. In step S3,based on an operation signal from the input device 12 by the operationof the player, the control unit 10 makes the operation character act inthe game, which is displayed on the monitor 13.

In step S4, the control unit 10 accumulates the action information 31 ofthe operation character operated in step S3. FIG. 4 is a diagramdescribing the action information 31. The action information 31 isaccumulated while occasionally counting an action taken by operating theoperation character by the player in a stage, a scene, a mission, or thelike of the game play, or in a predetermined range such as apredetermined period or area. The action information 31 is accumulatedas respective data of respective actions taken by the operationcharacter, such as attack, avoidance, and movement, in the respectivepredetermined ranges described above. In the attack data, a used weaponfrequency such as a used weapon type or count, an attack frequency suchas an attack interval or an attack time, a time to attack, and the likeare accumulated. In the avoidance data, a rolling frequency such as arolling count, a crouch frequency and a retreat frequency areaccumulated. In the movement data, an enemy search frequency such as anenemy search count, and also includes the frequency of selection of amovement direction such as a trunk line or a byway are accumulated.

For example, in the case that the operation character attacks with amachine gun in an area, if the area is associated with attack data 1, aused weapon of the attack data 2 of the action information 31 is countedas “machine gun/one time”, and data such as an attack frequency (attackcount) at that time or a time to attack is accumulated. The operationsof the player are associated with the respective data in the respectivepredetermined ranges or actions described above. When the playerperforms an operation, the operation, that is, the action of theoperation character is counted in the data and is accumulated in theaction information 31. The accumulation of the action information 31 isperformed whenever the player performs an operation.

In step S5, the control unit 10 executes control character instructionprocessing. The control character can be developed by evaluating theaction instructed to the control character associated with the operationcharacter. The control character instruction processing will bedescribed below in detail. When the game is over in step S6, the controlunit 10 transmits the action information 31 and the instructioninformation 32 acquired in this game play to the center server 3. Inaddition, the information managing portion 23 of the center server 3manages the received action information 31 and instruction information32 for each player ID, and transmits according to the request of eachgame machine 2. Then, the control unit 10 quits the game executionprocessing. On the other hand, when determining in step S6 that the gameis still being played, the control unit 10 returns to step S3 andcontinues the game execution processing including the control characterinstruction processing.

When the player pays a play fee, the action information 31 and theinstruction information 32 are received from the center server 3 (stepS1) and a game is started (step S2). An operation of the operationcharacter is controlled based on an operation of the player (step S3),the operation of the operation character in step S3 is accumulated asthe action information 31 (step S4), and the control character isinstructed according to the operation of the player (step S5). When thegame is over, the action information 31 and the instruction information32 acquired in this game play are transmitted to the center server 3.Further, the processing of steps S1 and S6 executed by the datatransmitting/receiving portion 18 of the control unit 10 serves as adata transmitting/receiving device, and the processing of step S3executed by the game executing portion 16 serves as an operationcharacter action control device, and the processing of step S3 executedby the information accumulating portion 17 serves as an actioninformation accumulating device. Further, in the center server 3, theinformation managing portion 23 serves as an information managingdevice.

It will be described the control character instruction processingexecuted by the control unit 10 with reference to a flow chart of FIG.5. The control character instruction processing corresponds to step S4of the above-described game execution processing, and is executedaccording to an operation of the player during game execution. First, instep S21, the control unit 10 determines whether an instruction isissued to the control character based on an operation of the player.FIG. 6 is a diagram describing the instruction information 32. In theinstruction information 32, instructions to the control character areclassified according to different-purpose actions such as an attacksystem, a defense system, and a support system. Instructions selectableby the player are set in each system. For example, instructions such as,“positive” for attacking positively, “prudent” for attacking prudentlyso as not to be attacked by an opponent, and “surprise” for attackingsuddenly so as not to be detected by an opponent, are set in the attacksystem. Instructions for respective areas, such as “defense on ownground”, “defense on trunk line”, and “defense on byway”, are set in thedefense system. Also, instructions for respective support objects, suchas “support of friends at a front line”, “support of low-life friends”,and “support of near friends”, are set in the support system. Theseinstructions may be set as instructions that can be usually selected,and special instructions may also be set according to stages, areas,missions or the like. The player selects and issues a desired one ofthese instructions to the control character.

When an instruction is issued in step S21, the control unit 10 proceedsto step S22 to add 1 to an instruction count of the instruction selectedin step S21, and then proceeds to step S24. Accordingly, the selectionof an instruction by the player is counted, so that an instructiontendency of the player can be understood. On the other hand, when aninstruction is not issued in step S21, the control unit 10 proceeds tostep S23 to determine whether an action of the player has beendetermined because an instruction of the player has already been issuedin the previous control character instruction processing. When aninstruction has already been issued and the control character acts basedon the instruction, the control unit 10 proceeds to step S24 todetermine whether to cause the player to evaluate a current action ofthe control character that is taken with respect to the instruction.When an action with respect to the instruction has not yet been selectedand determined and thus there is no need to evaluate an action, or whenthere is no evaluation input of the player, the control unit 10 proceedsto step S29 that will be described below.

On the other hand, when an action has already been determined, thecontrol unit 10 proceeds to step S25 to cause the player to evaluate theaction. In step S25, the control unit 10 presents the player with anoption for evaluation, and determines whether the evaluation is apositive evaluation. In order to cause the player to evaluate an actionof the control character, an option divided step by step from a positiveevaluation to a negative evaluation is displayed on the monitor 13 forselection by the player. The option for evaluation is presented based onevaluation information 33 shown in FIG. 7.

The evaluation information 33 is divided into a positive evaluationevaluating an action of the player highly and a negative evaluationevaluating an action of the player low. In the positive evaluation,phrases such as “excellent”, “good” and “reasonable” representingevaluations on the control character are set in association withrelative evaluation values that are increased/decreased when selected.For example, a relative evaluation value of “excellent” is set to +10, arelative evaluation value of “good” is set to +5, and a relativeevaluation value of “reasonable” is set to +1. Likewise, in the negativeevaluation, phrases such as “still bad”, “what are you doing” and “get alife” representing evaluations on the control character are set inassociation with relative evaluation values −1, −5 and −10 correspondingto the respective evaluations. Furthermore, when the player does notselect an evaluation, a relative evaluation value is set to ±0 and anevaluation value does not increase/decrease. In addition, the evaluationinformation 33 of FIG. 7 is an example, and the evaluation phrases andthe relative evaluation values associated therewith may be modifiedaccording to game contents or purposes.

When the evaluation selected by the player is the positive evaluation,the control unit 10 proceeds to step S26 to increase the evaluationvalue according to the selected evaluation content. For example, whenthe player recognizes an action of the control character to be excellentand selects “excellent” of the positive evaluation, 10 is added to anevaluation value of a current state. FIG. 8 shows an example ofevaluation value data D1. In the instruction information 32, anevaluation on a selected action is accumulated as evaluation value dataD1 in association with each action. In the evaluation value data D1, theevaluation results of the player with respect to the respective actionstaken by the control character are represented in numerical values.Herein, the respective action data of the action information 31 of theoperation character are set as the respective actions that can be takenby the control character. In the evaluation value data D1, therespective evaluation values are associated with the respective actiondata. An initial value of “50” is allocated to each evaluation value ofthe action data. In the state of the initial value being “50”, when the“excellent” is selected, “10” is added to the evaluation value and thesum is “60”. On the other hand, the evaluation selected by the player isthe negative evaluation, the control unit 10 proceeds to step S27 todecrease the evaluation value according to the selected evaluation.According to the relative evaluation value of the evaluation information33, whenever an evaluation is performed by the player, the evaluationvalue of a relevant action increases/decreases.

On the other hand, when determining in step S23 that an instruction isnot being issued, the control unit 10 proceeds to step S28 to select afrequently-selected instruction based on the instruction information 32.In this case, since an instruction count is accumulated, an instructionis selected according to the instruction count. The determination may bemade by executing a lottery according to the ratio of the instructioncount by using a random number. After the instruction selection of stepS28, after the execution of step S26 or step S27, or when the evaluationis not performed in step S24, the control unit 10 proceeds to step S29to select action data to be applied to an action of the controlcharacter with reference to the evaluation value data D1 correspondingto the selected instruction. Herein, the action data may be selected bya lottery performed according to the ratio of each evaluation value byusing a random number. In this way, the high-evaluated action data isapt to be selected, but the low-evaluated action data may also beselected, thus diversifying a game factor. Further, as the controlcharacter accumulates experience, that is, as the use time of thecontrol character increases, the lottery rate may be controlled so thatthe high-evaluated action data is selected. In addition, the lotteryrate may be changed according to a personality allocated to the controlcharacter. A personality easy to develop or a personality difficult todevelop is made to appear in the game, thereby diversifying a gamefactor.

Next, the control unit 10 proceeds to step S30 to control an action ofthe control character based on the selected action data. The selectedaction data is data based on the action information 31 of the operationcharacter operated by the player. The tendency of an action selected bythe player is specified in the action information 31. Therefore, forexample, a weapon may be selected according to a weapon use frequency, atime from the detection of an enemy to the beating of the enemy in anattack may be set according to an average time of the player, or a hitrate of the attack may be set according to an average hit rate of theplayer. An action of the control character may be controlled accordingto the ratio or average specified in the action information 31.Accordingly, since the control character performs a similar action tothe operation character, an action reflecting the operational habit ofthe player can be implemented. Then, the control unit 10 quits thecontrol character instruction processing, and returns to step S5 tocontinue the game execution processing.

According to the above-described processing, when the player issues aninstruction to the control character (step S21), the number ofinstructions is counted (step S22), and a player's evaluation isperformed on a control character's action executed according to theinstruction (steps S24 and S25). An evaluation value of thecorresponding action data increases/decreases by inputting theevaluation on the action of the control character by the player (stepsS26 and S27). On the other hand, when an instruction has not yet beenissued, an instruction is automatically selected with reference to theinstruction count of each instruction (step S28). As for an action ofthe control character, first, a tendency of the action is determined byselecting action data based on an evaluation value (step S29). Inaddition, the control character takes an action reflecting theoperational habit of the player by controlling the action with referenceto the selected action data (step S30).

Therefore, the more the game is played, the more accumulated theinstruction to the control character, the evaluation data thereof andthe action information 31 of the player are, so that the accumulatedinformation is reflected on the action of the control character. Sincethe control character performs a similar action to the operation of theplayer by referring to the action information 31 accumulated theinformation with respect to the operation of the player, the controlcharacter appears to grow by viewing the action of the operationcharacter. Further, since an action frequently instructed by the playeris performed even when there is no instruction, the control charactercan be developed and grown. Therefore, the game can be diversified andthe satisfaction of the player can be increased. The processing of stepS22 executed by the information accumulating portion 17 of the controlunit 10 serves as an instruction information accumulating device, theprocessing of steps S25 to S27 executed by the game executing portion 16serves as an action evaluating device, and the processing of steps S29and S30 executed by the game executing portion 16 serves as a controlcharacter action control device.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described aspect, andcan be carried out in various kinds of aspects. For example, in thisaspect, an action of the control character with respect to aninstruction from the player is evaluated based on the evaluationinformation 33, but is not limited thereto. By further enhancing aneducational color, an actual action of the control character may bemodified. For example, a ring may be provided around the controlcharacter. When the control character performs an action that is notintended by the player, the position or action of the control charactermay be corrected by pulling the ring. In this way, it is possible tomodify the position of the control character by pulling the ring whenthe control character is not located at a desired place. And it ispossible to make the control character attack in the front line bypulling the ring to the front line when the control character performs adefense action while the player desires an attack action. Therefore, theplayer can severely develop the character to modify the action, andinstruct and guide the character. The action modification informationmay be accumulated. As in the above-described aspect, for example, inthe processing of step S30, the action may be controlled so as toperform a modified action based on the information with respect to theaction modification. Further, the action may be modified by anotherinstruction operation and may be modified in an appropriate method.Further, the evaluation is performed when there is an instruction fromthe player (S24 to S26), but the present invention is not limitedthereto. In the case that the player does not issue an instruction, theevaluation may be performed by the player even when the high-frequencyinstruction is selected based on the instruction information. Theevaluation by the player may be performed by executing the same way assteps S24 to S26.

The present invention can be applied to the control of the controlcharacter associated with the operation character operated by theplayer. The present invention is not limited to a fighting game, and thepresent invention can be applied to a control character in various gamessuch as an action game and a shooting game. According to the gameapplied, the control character may be set as various characters such asa rival and a friend of the control character.

Although the present aspect has been described with a store-installationgame terminal apparatus, the present invention is not limited theretoand can be applied to various game machines such as a stationary gamemachine and a portable game machine. In this case, the instructioninformation 32 and the action information 31 may be stored and managedin the respective storage devices. Further, in the case of a gamemachine corresponding to a network, the instruction information 32 andthe action information 31 may be managed by using the center server 3 asdescribed above. On the other hand, the present invention can also beapplied to various stand-alone game machines. When game machinescommunicate with each other without passing through a server, theinstruction information 32 and the action information 31 may be directlytransmitted and received.

1. A game machine comprising: an operation character action controldevice which controls an action of an operation character set to beoperated by a player based on an operation of the player with respect tothe operation character; a control character action control device whichcontrols an action of a control character to act in association with theoperation character so as to select from a plurality of predeterminedactions by referring to an instruction from the player to the controlcharacter; an action information accumulating device which accumulatesaction information of respective actions of the operation characterindividually; and an instruction information accumulating device whichaccumulates the instruction from the player with respect to an action ofthe control character as instruction information; wherein the controlcharacter action control device determines an instruction with referenceto the accumulated instruction information, selects an actioncorresponding to the instruction from the plurality of actions andcontrols an action of the control character based on the actioninformation corresponding to the selected action in the case that thereis no instruction from the player with respect to the control character.2. The game machine of claim 1, further comprising an action evaluatingdevice which makes the player evaluate an action of the controlcharacter wherein the control character action control device controlsan action of the control character with further reference to theevaluation result of the action evaluating device.
 3. The game machineof claim 2, wherein the control character action control device controlsan action of the control character so that the high-evaluated action isapt to be selected according to an evaluated ratio of the evaluationresult.
 4. The game machine of claim 2, wherein The action evaluatingdevice allow the player to modify an action of the control character asthe evaluation of an action of the control character, and the controlcharacter action control device controls an action of the controlcharacter so as to take a modified action.
 5. The game machine of claim1, wherein in the instruction information, each instruction selectableby the player and the count of selection of the instruction areaccumulated in association with each other.
 6. The game machine of claim1, wherein in the action information, a plurality of action data countedthe frequency of an action of the operation character selected based onan operation of the player is accumulated.
 7. A game system including aplurality of game machines and a server that are communicativelyconnected to each other through a network, wherein each of the gamemachine comprising: an operation character action control device whichcontrols an action of an operation character set to be operated by aplayer based on an operation of the player with respect to the operationcharacter; a control character action control device which controls anaction of a control character to act in association with the operationcharacter so as to select from a plurality of predetermined actions byreferring to an instruction from the player to the control character; anaction information accumulating device which accumulates actioninformation of respective actions of the operation characterindividually; an instruction information accumulating device whichaccumulates the instruction from the player with respect to an action ofthe control character as instruction information; and a datatransmitting/receiving device which transmits the instructioninformation and the action information to the server in association withthe player and receives the instruction information and the actioninformation of the requesting player; wherein the control characteraction control device determines an instruction with reference to theaccumulated instruction information, selects an action corresponding tothe instruction from the plurality of actions and controls an action ofthe control character based on the action information corresponding tothe selected action in the case that there is no instruction from theplayer with respect to the control character, and the server comprisingan information managing device which manages the instruction informationand the action information received from the game machine in associationwith the player.
 8. A storage medium storing a computer program causes acomputer of a game machine to serve as: an operation character actioncontrol device which controls an action of an operation character set tobe operated by a player based on an operation of the player with respectto the operation character; a control character action control devicewhich controls an action of a control character to act in associationwith the operation character so as to select from a plurality ofpredetermined actions by referring to an instruction from the player tothe control character; an action information accumulating device whichaccumulates action information of respective actions of the operationcharacter individually; and an instruction information accumulatingdevice which accumulates the instruction from the player with respect toan action of the control character as instruction information; whereinthe control character action control device determines an instructionwith reference to the accumulated instruction information, selects anaction corresponding to the instruction from the plurality of actionsand controls an action of the control character based on the actioninformation corresponding to the selected action in the case that thereis no instruction from the player with respect to the control character.